Caden Tellier, Chance Gainer, Christopher Garcia, Cohen Craddock, Jayvion Taylor, Leslie Noble, Ovet Gomez-Regalado, Robert James Gillion III, and Semaj Wilkins. These individuals were more than just names; they were sons, brothers, teammates, and friends. Their ages range from 13 to 18, leaving global communities devastated by their untimely deaths. The families of these nine young individuals are now mourning the losses, all because of brain injuries, heat strokes, cardiac arrests, or fatal collapses for unknown reasons.
Although football is fun for many teens of all ages, many dangers come with the sport. As many parents realize how traumatic the sport can be, they want to eliminate it instead of taking more safety precautions. Yet tackle football has been around for many years, so we shouldn’t just take it away. Even though states like California petitioned to ban tackle football for kids under 12 in January 2024, the bill passed through the committee, hoping to become a new law in 2024. Shortly after it was passed through the committee, Gov. Gavin Newsom declined to pass the ban bill. After his decision, he openly stated his stance on the bill to the community.
“I am deeply concerned about the health and safety of our young athletes, but an outright ban is not the answer,” he said in a statement first given to Politico, adding that his office will work with the legislature to “strengthen safety in youth football players.”
The father of Cohen Craddock believes that we should not do away with football entirely and that the bill was unnecessary, that we just need to put more safety measures in place to protect kids.
For many years we have seen football players in padding from head to toe. Getting padded up is required for football players in all leagues to have five essential pieces of equipment. The helmet is crucial for head protection, reducing the risk of concussions. However, the standard helmet is known not to provide enough padding. As a result, a guardian cap was developed. The guardian cap is designed to help prevent severe brain injuries.
The second piece is shoulder pads. They cover the shoulders, chest, and back, helping to prevent injuries to the spinal cord and heart. Although they are designed based on the player’s position, the third piece is thigh pads, which are used when the defense is bringing down a runner from behind, grasping their thighs. Knee pads are important as well; they are used to prevent defenders from tearing their ACL. When a player hears a popping sound in their knee, they may feel swelling and a sense of instability, as if they can’t bear weight on their legs. The ACL is a significant concern and can put many athletes out for the season. Lastly, cleats are an important piece of equipment that all athletes use in a variety of sports. Cleats provide traction, allowing players to sprint, jump, and pivot to change directions quickly.
Deaths in the football community have become increasingly frequent. As of 2023, there have been 16 football-related deaths across the U.S. Not only at the high school level but also in colleges, we see the same issues that have just started to arise in high school players as we saw in college students a year ago.
Many parents and fans have begun to question whether football is safe anymore, even with the precautions that teams take. The NFL has specific regulations to try to keep all their players safe, and each coach may take additional precautions by substituting players throughout the game.
“When the NFL takes measures to protect its players by playing flag football in the Pro Bowl, it is not just safeguarding its multimillion investments,” says Dr. Stella Legarda in CaliMatters.org.
Rules are established by the NFL committee and may be modified as needed. Since 2002, approximately 50 rules have been altered to hopefully reduce injuries.
Dr. Chris Nowinski, a neuroscientist from Boston, shared his opinion on today.com about the football ban bill.
“Every time you hear about a death occurring in practice, that could have been avoided if we retrained coaches on how to teach kids to play football without excessive head impacts.”
Reflecting on his statement made me realize the extent of our control over such situations.
Just imagine what these parents and siblings are going through, all because of one thing that probably could’ve been prevented. This has changed their lives forever; they will never get to hold their child, watch them get married, or pursue a higher career. The players who have passed probably dreamed of going to the NFL or an Ivy League college. Any 16-year-old dreams of finally getting accepted into a college, especially getting a full ride since scouts see them as a good fit for the team. If we start to learn from the mistakes then we might be able to prevent everything that happened. In hopes of preventing the deaths of students in our schools, we need to understand what mistakes we have made in the past and what we can change now to carry on to the future.
